But he warned predators that the 20-year-old won’t be sold any time soon.
Rodgers believes Dembele – who scored twice in the thrilling 3-3 draw against Manchester City – has the __football world at his feet.
The former Fulham kid reminds Rodgers of Chelsea legend Drogba, and although Celtic accept Dembele’s career plan is to use them as a stepping stone, the Parkhead gaffer insists that next move is two years down the line.
Dembele – bought for a development fee in the summer and snatched from under the noses of top English and European clubs – would already command multi-millions on the open market.
But Rodgers will knock back any bids because the player has his mind set on developing fully under his guidance before striking out to achieve his aim of being the world’s best striker.
Rodgers said: “I worked with Didier Drogba at Chelsea and he’s of that ilk.
“Didier came into Chelsea at 24 or something like that. Moussa has just turned 20. He’s still a baby, but he’s tough.
“You can see on nights such as Wednesday that he is a big reference for the team.
“What I see in Moussa is that he’s a big game player. He really comes alive in the big games.
“He has a belief. He said he wanted to be the world’s best player when he came in so we shall see.
“He is making nice strides. He can get to the top but there are some things to work on.
“Moussa knows that to maximise his potential he needs to develop his runs, his set-up play and tactical idea of the game.
“He knows that in two or three years, if he develops how he can, or how we think he can, the market is there.”
Drogba signed for Chelsea from Marseille in 2004 for £24million, but Rodgers joked that even £15m wouldn’t buy Dembele’s big toe!
He added: “His value is what someone will pay. If he can show up like that in big games, that’s your value.
“But you will get nothing for cheap out of here. He could have gone to other huge clubs in England or in Europe but he came here and was happy to work and to learn.
“If you speak to some of the guys down south they will tell you that they were surprised we were able to get someone like that.
“But what it has done is opened up the eye to lots of people, that if you look at the career and development of a player then this might be a clever thing to do.
“You could make a move to another big club – but you might not play games.
“What better experience could you give to a kid than Wednesday night?”